


31 Days of Fic

by TheEarlyKat



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: 31 Days of Writing Challenge, Fahleon, Inktober Alternative, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-07 17:05:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 10,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12237075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEarlyKat/pseuds/TheEarlyKat
Summary: A month-long, daily fic consisting of 300+ word chapters featuring my Inquisitor, Fahleon.





	1. Scent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Take a character and describe what they smell like-

A breeze brings a hint of flowers too sweet to be blooming in the cold seasons. There's honey and rose, neither of which are possible atop the Frostbacks mountains where the soil is too thin and rocky for deep and thirsty roots. Insects are abound, as they are where a crowd of people gather to leave crumbs and wastes and forgotten food for roaches, flies, and fleas. Grasshoppers jump through the weeds and crickets chirp at the waning sun but never is there a hum of bees, wild or tamed. Honey is too rare to be used for frivolous self care, anyway, and the training grounds are too far from the kitchens to catch a whiff of sweet cakes. 

Fahleon smells it, too, and he tugs at his hair with frustrated jerks, deep lines of determination etching out the sharp corners of his jaw, as if each tug could tear the scent from him. It clings to him, much in the same way the servants Josephine sent to his chambers had even as he struggled from the bath they pulled him into and the soaps they rubbed him down with. It masked the natural woody smell of him - sap and dirt and worn leather. Old blood. Off-putting it was to nobles, their aid wasn't worth the perfumes and soaps. 

Ada was hesitant to near him, now, and it took a moment's coercion with meat and low whistles to get her to come close. She watched him with a tilted head, wary, and the great flapping of her wings smacked him with the full force of her confusion until she settled at the customary perch at his shoulder with a beak full of fresh kill. 

Fahleon ties up his hair again into a loose tail and hopes for the wind to change and take the smell away from him and the sweat beading on his skin to wash it off. He lifts his bow to another target. He could find a patch of mud to roll in, if nothing else.


	2. Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Describe an elaborate but stereotypical meal-

Fahleon’s ears still rung with the cheers and hopeful shouts that roared throughout all of Haven. An added cry was sometimes heard just outside the doors of the Chantry where a crowd still lingered, maybe to listen to new orders now that the threat was over or to catch another glance of the hero. He scratched at the edge of his ear with a thumb and caught the scabs still healing over the cuts where his manacles had chaffed. He was free, now, from them and the cell he’d been tossed in, sword points inches from his throat while he awaited trial from the Seeker. The dark and dank had been traded for light and a cloying scent of frankincense, the shouts at him - and for him - dulled to a background hum of nonsense chatter.

One instance of heroics, all but forced upon him as had been the blame, and he all was forgotten, swept under the rug. He sat high at the table pushed against the Chantry’s main sanctum, seated in the center between the interrogating Seeker and her slippery friend, the Spymaster. Their eyes were still heavy upon him with hate and mistrust, which he found fair to return until their judgment softened. He felt uneasy surrounded on all sides by those who had, just hours ago, were ready to slit his throat, and nausea rolled with more fury than the Waking Sea in his gut. It was only furthered by the spread put out before him.

Fahleon pushed a bowl of broth as far from him as he could. It knocked into a plate piled high with fruits of all colors and shapes, dominated by a large, orange sort with a rough skin. Apples were stacked beneath, and berries in colors he had never known were scattered like some sort of embellishment rather than for a purpose of eating. Bread, he recognized, dark and fluffy, with saucers of honey, butter, and oil nearby for dipping and spreading needs. Fish mixed oddly with a platter of eggs stuffed with ham that made his nose wrinkle and his lips curled at a display of desserts.

A king in a castle not his own, surrounded by cutthroats and back stabbers, but a king nonetheless. Fahleon rose and ignored the heat on his back as the Seeker and Spymaster watched his every step to the great carved wooden doors. He shoved one open only far enough to slip outside, and breathed deep of cold, bitter air, filled with the scent of oncoming snow. Somewhere, someone was roasting a simple breakfast of hare. Fahleon turned in its direction


	3. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character is now a vengeful wraith -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My inquisitor is one of my Grey Wardens, and thus has the Mahariel origin.

It was rumored, from the dawn of human life, the Brecillian Forest was haunted. They had a right to be afraid.

Twisting paths ran in circles, and the towering trees shaded the light from illuminating tripping and catching roots that pulled any unwary wanderer's feet out from under them. Rain turned the dim foggy, hiding the true dangers of the forests. Animals stalked freely through the underbrush, careful of mud pits and rock falls. Old spells whispered silken words across the hills of power and health for a simple price, and the forest fought back against the tainted promise with fury. 

Fahleon walked the forest, steady and confident. Unafraid. It was the woods that should fear him.

It had tried, for the last time, to knock him down. It was a slow march, each step through the forest was an agony, each breeze a heavenly gift against fevered skin. Muscles weak from the days spent abed, unable to even lift his head to drink until the shem warrior preformed his cursed ritual to spell it away. His bow trembled in his hand, and he tightened his hold. The forest would not have him. It would not have Tamlen. 

A group of humans gathered, again, at the entrance to the old ruins. A foolish new enterprise into the deeps, or a even foolish return of the past group - it made no matter. Fahleon took them all down, and drew his arrows from each one, wiping the life blood clean on their shirts. There was more inside the ruins from, splattered along the walls and dripping on the floors from his last fight, here, with the blight bear. He found its body still heaped in a corner, nearly unrecognizable from the puss and corruption leeching from its wounds.

The mirror was just beyond. 

Broken and stained, as it was when he'd found it. Bloodied and tainted as it was when Tamlen touched it. Dread wolf take the elf, if he hadn't already. It would be a mercy compared to the end the mirror showed. 

A rock echoed down the stone corridors and Fahleon pivoted, bow raised and arrow pointed at the shem warrior. Fahleon pulled the bow taunt and the man lifted his arms, slowly - casually. 

"You should not have left you camp, hunter." Fahleon made no move to attack or recede, and the man lowered his hands back to his sides. "You won't find you friend here."

"Then tell me where." He shook his head, and Fahleon took a step closer, jaw tightening. "You will tell me where!"

"You cannot save-" 

Fahleon let the bow strong snap forward and the arrow embedded deep in the stonework in front of the man's boot. A stone chip flew to cut an exposed arm. "Then I'll look elsewhere."


	4. Comedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Switch the genre to comedy -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never tried to write comedy, I'm so sorry for this mess

The ground shuddered beneath Fahleon's feet, and Cullen shuddered with it. Rocks tumbled down the mountain side and rested under a blanket of snow that fell after. Cullen had no such blanket, and continued to shiver. Fahleon didn't think it that cold, what with the stables on fire. 

Corypheus rose from the snow, raging and cursing and clawing at the sky. 

"What do we do now?" some soldier said behind him. Fahleon felt eyes on his back. 

"The catapults didn't work." Another worried whisper that encouraged several more. Cullen glanced at him from the cornr of his eyes, face flushed. Embarrassed maybe, that his plan hadn't gone as imagined. It wouldn't be the last.

"What do you think?" he asked, hand reaching for the pommel of his sword.

"I thought he would be bigger," Fahleon answered. 

"Are you serious?"

Fahleon nodded. Corypheus had taken to cursing the Maker, now, and it made sense for a god to be imposing and encompassing - on an incomprehensible scale. Covered in snow and blight he looked more like a darkspawn, and Fahleon had seen enough to feel mild concern instead of fear. Until, that was, until Corypheus moved through space at a speed he couldn't comprehend, and his full form towered over him. 

"Ah."

Corypheus grabbed him by the front of his tunic and lifted him until Fahleon felt all his five foot something height. He frowned and kicked his feet, meeting only cold air. The fire from the stables had spread, to the inner walls of Haven's keep rather than upward to warm his toes. 

"You will bow to me," he hissed. Fahleon wrinkled his nose at the stench.

"You'll put me down, first."


	5. Walking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Describe how your character walks -

Trudging through snow was a difficult thing. Snow, itself, sounded the landscape, rounding out the sharp points of trees and filling in shallow hollows until the earth ran flat. It silenced birdsong and swallowed the natural music of the forest until all that was left was the crunch of Fahleon's footfalls and the occasional curse when his step fell deep. Here, Fahleon could not hide his noise in the ambiance of the forest. There was no chirp and chitter of small critters to hide within, not steady rustle of dried leaves to mask his own. Fahleon could follow the tracks of fox and hare for as long as he was able through the snow, but tracks could not teach him the right places to step or the pace that would silence him.

It would take time he didn't have to put the confidence back in every step, the strength in his arms, and precision in his movements. The patterns of the woods were not missing, merely different and unfamiliar, and it would be a slow and frustrating change. He knew the forests of eastern Fereldan, their every twist and hidden turns whether they were bare or covered in snow. He could walk the paths strong and quick, with nothing to impede him. He was silence and determination.

He was noisy and angered, and half a mind to turn back around and leave scouting for some other poor blighter. He would not make a name for himself if he returned, hands empty of food and mouth empty of news, but it would save his pride.

A screech echoed through the empty air, and Fahleon turned his eyes up from the sloppy series of tracks he'd made in the snow to watch Ada take off from a nearby tree. Her flight scattered a nest of squirrels into a panicked escape. Fahleon shot forward, as quick as he could with the snow banks up to his knees, a whistle on his lips between heavy breaths. Ada circled once and dived.


	6. Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Describe the way your character's hands feel -

The ground beneath them all is bucking like some wild animal, attempting to throw the weight off its back. It's successful, very so, and Dorian finds it impossible to keep his feet. He's smart enough to throw himself backwards, away from the fight, but he's not strong enough to go far. The dragon's claws rake against stone and the bridge crumbles under the weight. Bull is close enough to solid earth just beyond the bridge's arch to get a firm footing and he lunges towards the other side. The side where Fahleon is quickly tumbling down after the bricks. 

Bull is fast, but Dorian is closer. He turns himself around and makes a stumbling and faltering mess of himself that he is sure to demand Fahleon never repeats if they - when they - make it out of this mess. Fahleon's balance gives out after a minute of struggle, and he's on his back, rolling down what remains of the bridge and into thin air. Until there's a sudden stop that has him crying out at the sharp jerk of his arm. Dorian's arm shakes with the strain and he tightens his hold.

Fahleon returns his grip with a brief pull on his - a test to see if he call pull himself up the edge. Dorian can fell the callouses of years with a bow under a layer of sweat and blood. There's a rough patch on the outside of this thumb from a healing wound after an encounter with a frightened nug, and Dorian's finger traces the scab while looking for a better purchase. It's difficult when Fahleon's hands are so much smaller than his own, and nearly impossible to bring Fahleon up to solid ground. Not without help, at least. There's a look on his face that must have spoken for him, for Fahleon's grip has gone slack and there's a frown on his face with more determination than fear. It's one of Dorian's favorites.

He can't feel the prickle of magic, but he can hear it - the way the very air below them snaps and rips until there's a jagged cut in the dark pit where the bridge had once been. There's light, now, bright and unearthly, and the hollow sound of the Fade echoes from it. 

"Let go," Fahleon says, and the elf's hand had never felt so heavy in his own before.


	7. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- A location important to your character is destroyed -

_I would like to get you know_ , Cassandra had said, in as pleasant a tone as she could manage with the icy distance between them, made from years of mistrust and current grudges. She'd frozen up again when he wove a tale of Seheron and the lands across the Great Ocean. He was no storyteller like Varric and no prankster like Sera, he could not put the humor in his voice and Cassandra took it for what it was - another lie, one more reason to deny his trust. Fahleon hadn't sought it, either, but was frustrated with her reasoning to his story. 

He would not bring up the past he'd tried hard to remember, and harder to forget. What would anyone benefit from the knowledge of his clan's massacre, the murder of his parents, his transfer to another family of elves when his own kicked him out. Humans had a system of pity that went beyond race, if the circumstances were dire enough, and Fahleon would not have it. He already had their adoration as the Herald, something he did not ask for, and he would not take on their pity, either, as an orphan and a victim. His home was gone, and what home he'd made within the Sabre clan disappearing with every day spent away, as well. Gone, soon, if the messages received by Leliana from the Free Marches were to be believed. 

No, Fahleon would not speak of the clan and his role in it. He told Josephine earlier the dangers of handing out such information to they wary and suspicious, whether their intentions for use were well-intended or not. They did not deserve it, and Fahleon would not risk it for some shem's approval.


	8. Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- "It wasn't my fault" -

"It wasn't my fault," Fahleon snarled. He was aware of the eyes on him, no less sharp than the blades pointed at his chest. He was aware of the darkness and the dampness of an underground holding cell, too far down for anyone to hear him or reach him in time. He was aware of the burning mark on his hand and the light he couldn't hide. It brightened when the woman yanked his arm away from him and he grunted at the sword poking at his side. 

"This wasn't you?" she demanded, and every word was followed up by another pull on his arm until Fahleon felt blood wet his tunic. She jabbed her other hand towards the sky. He couldn't see the great gaping whole in the sky, dripping with demons and all manner of the Beyond, but he knew it was still there. "That wasn't caused by you?" He didn't answer and she met his snarl with one of her own before throwing down his hand. The wound popped and he clutched it close to himself, biting down on a noise of pain. When he could open his eyes again, a second woman had appeared. 

"We need him, Cassandra," she said, finally stepping out the shadows. She glanced at him, once and only for a flicker of a second, and turned to the Seeker. 

"We need his information," she corrected. "If he would talk."

"I'm accused whether I talk or not," Fahleon said, with a humor in his voice that was almost a laugh. 

"Not unless you wish to help," the woman in the shadows said. He did laugh, then, and Cassandra quiet him with a stomp of her foot.

"We cannot trust him, Leliana."

Leliana regarded him a calm, if cold, look. "Do you trust us?" He narrowed his eyes and gave a curt shake of his head. "Then I guess we have an understanding."


	9. Upset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character is humorously upset about something -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fahleon hunts with a red kite named Ada, who's the feature of today's prompt

Fahleon's lack of verbal response had become a slow learning curve. An answer consisting of a shrug did not suggest an apathy for a situation, silent looks were not part of a cold shoulder technique, and scoffs and sighs meant no offense. It was his form of communication, and his companions had come to understand it. Which brought utter confusion when Fahleon refused to quiet. He was silent and still for only a manner of minutes before pacing the length of the great hall, a mutter under his breath just a tone beneath hearing. 

"This is ridiculous," Fahleon said, and not for the first time. Nor the second, or the third, and everyone was counting. There was no telling when he'd speak this often again, and there would be opportune times to tease him about it later. Fahleon had other concerns in mind than the stares following his steps. He stilled again, and tipped his head back to watch the ravens flit between the rafters, listening for their croaks. "It's like she doesn't even remember me." He glanced at those gathered around him, frown wobbling between hurt and fear. It hurt just to look at. 

Dorian was the first to clear his throat. "I can't say I know much about the memory of birds, but I don't think they just forget who raised them from chicks." 

It didn't pacify the elf. "Whether Ada remembers me or not, she won't come to me." She'd been avoiding him, at the least. His idea to have her roost with the messenger ravens had backfired, and instead of giving the kite more space to be comfortable, she'd refused to leave. 

"And it requires Leliana to fix?"

"Maybe." Fahleon worked his jaw. "She knows her own birds. More than me, even."


	10. 'Spit that Out'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Start off with 'Spit that out'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fahleon is terrified of dogs

"Spit...spit that out." The mabari hound attacked to his arm by the sleeve of his jacket did the exact opposite, and instead worried further at the leather. He could feel the dog's hot breath like a burn and every brush of short fur was a scratch laced with a threat that the strong jaws tugging at his clothes was but a small taste of the power it held. Fahleon swallowed a scream and risked a glance around himself in search of anyone or anything that might help. A quick look of the empty training ring revealed nothing useful in sight and he locked eyes with the dog the instant he finished - he didn't wish to take his eyes off it any longer than he had to. He cleared the throat and tried again. "Spit it out."

Fahleon thought the dog understood, this time, as its jaws parted and showed its rows of sharp teeth, yellow from years of biting into the flesh of creatures that were not limited to just walking on four legs, and he moved to snatch his hand back to himself. The mabari was quicker and nipped at his sleeve again. Fahleon did scream, this time, an ungraceful thing. He thought he saw the giant muzzle split into a grin, and he wondered in that brief moment of clarity as shock burned away his fear if the dog meant this as some game. The heart beating hard and fast in Fahleon's chest, making him light-headed and dizzy, had a different opinion on the idea of play.

A game inspired some fear, or something equivalent to promote a need to win, but was ultimately made up of fun. This, Fahleon decided, was no where close to fun. This was powerlessness, a hatred towards things he could not control. This was a torture he never wanted repeated. 

A whistle sounded, so suddenly and so sharply Fahleon flinched hard enough to knock himself off balance as the hound let go. The mabari's tongue lolled in the same grin before trotting after the master who'd called for it. Fahleon rubbed at his wrist before walking off, shoulders hunched and face red in embarrassment.


	11. Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Utter peace in the autumn afternoon -

The peace of the Hinterlands was broken by a half muffled snort of laughter. The birds Fahleon watched through lazy, half-lidded eyes fluttered away, startled at the sound so out of place in the soft pattern of a river rock rocks and the chuff of mountain rams. Fahleon arched his neck back to find what Dorian found so funny, and a tug of his hair stilled him. 

"Don't you dare ruin my work. I'm almost done," the mage chided, with no true heat behind it. Fahleon heard a smile in his voice and he was content to relax across the grassy cliff overlooking the hills of Redcliffe. He stretched his legs until his knees shook and fell into the feeling of Dorian's fingers combing through his hair, shivering when he brushed against the nape of his neck. 

It was a rare day where Fahleon could simply be...Fahleon. The Inquisitor was not needed to spy on the talks and movements of the supposed lyrium smuggler hiding amongst the Chantry's sisters. That was Varric's job, until the dwarf returned with news and he would have to don his title once more. There was time before that, enough for a time to soak up the early afternoon sun and feel the grass under his toes. Enough for a nap, even. 

"Done," Dorian said, after Fahleon had closed his eyes and tilted his chin back to angle the sun out of his eyes. He blinked, slow, and turned on his side to assess Dorian's handiwork. The mage looped a lock of his unbound hair around his finger and Fahleon raised a brow at the small white petals of wildflowers he found tied into the loose strands. Fahelon lifted a hand to the crown of his head and felt a dozen more flowers, soft and silky under. 

"No one will take me seriously like this," he said, but he felt his lips quirk at the idea of it - marching through the town to demand the sister to work for him. 

Dorian lifted the hair still in his grasp to his lips. "I can take them out before we go."

"Keep them."


	12. Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character has been handled a child -

There were some responsibilities he could understand the importance of, and it was the single Fahleon tolerated them. He little knowledge of battle plans and training regimes, but Cullen walked him through the ranks of templars and farm hands nonetheless, and Fahleon nodded where he should and let the rest filter through his ears as background noise. He cared none of the people Josephine called allies - the primped and pampered nobles knew none of the hardships he had and their concerned well-wishes were slaps against his cheeks - but he greeted them all the same with tight lips and tense shoulders. The war room was stuffy and the cracked ceiling made him nervous, but he stood it under it and endured the talks of things that should require his attention, but meant nothing to him. A skirmish in the Orlesian outskirts was too far from his Skyhold quarters to instigate any fear of it reaching the mountains to warrant a small team of soldiers, darkspawn crawling from the storm coast did not mean the coming of a blight and it was easier to leave them to the dragon than clear out the caves. Horses in the hinterlands...Fahleon supposed he could reach out to the farm holds if it saved his feet in the long run.

Other responsibilities he found crazy, outlandish, and outright removed himself from. Speaking prayers spoken to the masses from a god he had no faith in, in a language that rubbed him the wrong way or cleaning up the rubble that amassed after ages of the Keep's disuse. A babe, human and pink with a shock of blond hair, in his arms and a teary eyed young mother, looking down at him with exhaustion and hope. Fahleon cradled it in the crook of his arms, eyes wide and breath stuck in his throat as he concentrated on not dropping it.

What in the Void was he supposed to do with it? Feed it or cloth it or bathe it - though the mother looked more in need than the child? Bless it - in a word neither of them would understand and lose all meaning of the meeting? Fahleon cleared his throat and uttered a word of strength and hoped it was enough, wincing when the mother reached out with confusion and hesitation. He turned away as soon as he was able and glared at anyone with mocking looks.


	13. Wandering Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- A strange child walks into a field -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Fahleon's canon, he was traded through clans until he ended up in the Brecillian Forest, where my Warden was holed up after he came into his magic, and so Fahleon and my Warden ran into each other a few times. This is one of them

Fahleon knew what to expect when the clan asked for those brave enough to watch the lands around the human settlers, but it did not make the challenge easier. He thought taking on such a request would improve his standings amongst the Dalish, yet instead of hope there was only fear settled low in his stomach. He would not see another of his homes, if this was what was to become of the new Fereldan scenery, be taken from him again through human hands. 

He watched the father and his son carefully, wary, longer than necessary if only it meant he could keep his own family safe. The boy was a mage, not much younger than him, with fire in his hands. It wasn't the magic he weld that unnerved Fahleon - it was his adventurousness. He furthered from his cottage father each day until the tree line was a shadow over his brow. Fahleon ducked under the bushes to hide his gaze, and readied his bow. Ada, nothing more than a ball of downy feathers, peeped a note when her roost was disturbed at his movement. Her beak was still sharp, and she snapped at the point of his ear and he bit back a cry of pain.

The boy jumped, brown eyes wide and flicking over the bush he crouched in. Fahleon tensed as he watched the boy clutch his hands close to his chest, but he didn't feel the tell-tale static of magic use. Instead, the boy stepped forward even closer, lips parted and pants heavy. Fahleon dropped an arrow and he scrambled to pick it up. 

"I know you're there."

He stiled, snapping his head up at the words, surprised and yet not. It was impossible for either of the humans to remain naive of the eyes that watched them day and night. 

The boy's feet touched the roots of the first tree and moved no further. "We aren't going to hurt you...we're not liked...either, I think. We ran away, too..."

It was a poor explanation, but it was all the boy's courage was capable of. His knees shook before he turned away, and long legs took him quickly back to the house. Fahleon eyed the door to make sure it stayed shut before turning away for home, as well.


	14. Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- A witch binds the character to a forest -

The old hermit living under the stump was, officially, the high of his day, Fahleon thought. The deep scratch he'd earned from testing Witherfang's patience throbbed with every beat of his heart, and his heart was making a mad dash for a safer place in the pit of his stomach. He winced and wrapped a hand around the cut. The werewolves growled, their fur fluffing up and clawed hands flexing, and Fahleon returned his arm to his side. Blood dripped to the floor from his fingertips. 

"That is no way to treat our guest," a woman scolded, lightly but with a strength in her voice that sounded both familiar and strange. She spoke like the wind through leaves, and when she walked from her chambers offset from the ruins, her movements were stiff and creaky like wooden branches. The wolves bowed at her approach. When she stood by Witherfang to place a hand on his shoulder, Fahleon caught a scent of magic more pungent than the death and decay around him. "I invited you here to make known your intentions."

Fahleon didn't look away from the wolves when he answered. "You're attacking my people."

She let out a laugh that sounded of rain. "Did your Keeper not tell you? Your people were the first to attack. This curse is nothing but yours to blame." She stretched a hand out towards him and Fahleon was too stunned from the revelation to defend himself from whatever magic she would throw at him. "Hear this: I am the Lady of the Forest and I will not hesitate to protect what is left untouched by your Keeper. The curse will end until he does, by hand or yours."

"You want me to kill my Keeper?" Fahleon asked.

"It is the only way to end this," she said. "Unless you wish to suffer the same fate."


	15. Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character is now a cat -

Fahleon had second thoughts about enveloping the mages into the Inquisition's ranks. They whined and they bickered and they flaunted their newfound freedom...and they tested their magic like tomorrow it might be taken away. He supposed it might, if every day was just another chance for Corypheus attack. The mages could have, at least, the courtesy to practice away from him. Especially if neither party knew the exact consequences for the spells they were slinging about.

At least Fahleon knew what the one particular spell did when it missed its target and struck him - the target being some stray tabby innocently washing itself on the fence lining the training grounds. Fahleon wasn't sure what the spell was meant to do, make the cat talk or do a funny dance, but instead he was the one to feel funny and speak in a strange language. Specifically meows. 

Fahleon looked upon his body, his own, elven body, still and limp and with vacant eyes from the fence post. He jumped to the ground, paws and all, and wondered how long it would take for someone to notice he wasn't aware of himself, or that he was a cat. He wondered how long it would last. Long enough, he hoped, to cause some chaos within the Inquisition. He'd have to make to most of his current situation. 

He bounded from the courtyard and weaved himself through the throngs of people ascending the stairs to Skyhold proper, fur puffing at each brush of legs against his sides. One reached down to pet him and he hissed, darting out of the way and losing himself within the castle's rooms from his disadvantaged height. 

Josephine was at a desk stacked with papers and he wandered closer, slow, to see if she could tell it was him. Her eyes brightened in a way that was all interest but not at all recognition, and he jumped onto the table top. 

"What brings you here?" she asked, as Fahleon settled himself on the corner of the desk to wait out the length of the spell. He reached out and smacked a neat pile of papers to the floor.


	16. Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character gets the one thing they always wanted -

The Hinterlands were an ghostly sort of beauty during the snowy seasons. The trees were nearly bare, and what color still adorned their crooked branches scratching at the sky was a dead and dying array of yellows and browns. The rivers were muddy as melt carried dirt from the mountains and swamped the useless farmlands with mud. The land was empty of movement - families stayed home wrapped in furs, the animals they came from asleep in dens or deep underground, and the birds roosting somewhere far away and far warmer. 

Except for one.

Ada screeched as she soared above the bleak landscape, the only blur of motion for the miles Fahleon could see stretching out before him from atop a hill. He whistled to her and it sounded loud and sharp in his ears as it broke the silence hanging in the air. She answered him with another cry and Fahleon stretched an arm out. She landed on the offered perch with a flurry of feathers and he winced as he was clipped as she settled for herself. 

"Better?" he asked, out of habit. He'd grown of accustomed to speaking to her without any one else to listen to him. There were few left to talk to, and even less so verbally. Letters were a common form of communication, but they'd become few and far between after the disbandment of the Inquisition. A life of his own, once more, to go where he wished based on his own ideas. It was what he craved when staring out the high windows of Skyhold. Peace, quiet, a time to be his own elf again. 

He certainly got all he wished for. As much silence, as much space, as much time as he wanted. 

And Fahleon found himself lonely.


	17. Tyrant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character becomes the tyrannical dictator of you story -

"Is this what you want?" 

Fahleon heard the threat like a hiss inside his skull and it echoes through his bones like a cold wind, leaving him frozen and empty. He watched himself - this thing wearing his face - throw a man into a cage and slam the door closed before turning to look at him. Fahleon watched it grin, smile with his face and his teeth and his eyes, and he met it with a snarl. The demon laughed, unfazed, not when even Fahleon could hear the fear and panic in it. 

"All this authority, all this power," the demon continued, and Fahleon had no choice but to listen. He couldn't find a way to escape, and even then he wasn't sure he could move fast enough to make it out. "What could you do with it? I want to know you."

"No." Fahleon curled his hands into fists. "This isn't what I want!" Not like this. Never like this. 

"Are you so sure?" Confidence slipped over every word and stuck in Fahleon's ears, a mantra he couldn't shake. He wanted to be larger than those who trod upon him and his people, to be stronger than any sword thrust towards him, angrier than the enemies that faced him. Anger, yes, he was sure of that. The demon wearing his face licked is lips. "Is that so?"

Fahleon glared, a steady, hard look, even as the landscaped shifted once more from the dark dungeons below Haven's Chantry to a mounain high above a ruin hot with fire and choked with smoke. His face, laughing, mouth stretched into a mockery of a smile, eyes wide and mad. Fahleon refused to look, and he stifled a flinch when the demon whirled to face him. He refused to listen to the screams rising. 

"I _know_ you."


	18. Vampire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Create a vampire -

Mythall was real. The elven gods - his gods - were real, in one form of another. Walking the land at the same time he was, looking at the world with the same eyes...what else was real? The stories about them? The old tales of fantastic hunts and gruesome wars? The gift of life everlasting and the touch of magic? Each of his questions were answered in a whisper echoed within his skull, almost too soft to catch and too loud to hear in a language he struggled to comprehend. Yes, the old elves agreed, and no, not in the way he thought. 

Fahleon shook his head. 

The tales passed on from mentor to apprentice, from mother to child? They were real as well? In truth, he heard, and understood no further. The warnings and tales meant to inspire thought and fear just sticks compared to the truth, and Fahleon grit his teeth against the assault of information and narrowed it down to one. A tale to keep children away from burial sights to avoid the creatures within. Beasts of hunger and long slumbers, so fearsome and strong only an iron bark stake through the heart could kill them if they rose. They rested until the scent of new blood neared before clawing their way through the dirt to dig at flesh and bones. Some preyed on the mind, on thoughts and emotions until all that was left was a husk of a man, living but not alive. 

Vampire, the whispered informed, and the tales were true. Hunger, hiding itself in the broken chests of the dead to sate its need for life and blood and power. 

Fahlone shivered. The Well of Sorrows had given him much to think upon.


	19. Werewolves

_There is a curse afflicting the clan. Werewolves, attacking our camp and poisoning the blood of our hunters. I do not wish to leave them in their time of need. Please, dalen._

Fahleon would not turn down his Keeper. He would not turn down his clan, for anything save his own death. A werewolf epidemic was matter he was only happy to face if it meant the safety of the people he called family. He kept his Keeper's plea sharp in his mind as he stalked a wounded wolf. It wasn't difficult to tail the lumbering beast, as big and loud as it was, and the blood it dripped behind was a clear trail to its liar of lies. 

It's blood looked nothing like his - thick and dark - how dare it call itself anything else? It was a monster, not worse than the darkspawn, preying on his people and claiming to have once been free and human. Fahleon's lips curled. Perhaps it was true - he'd seen no good in shems, either. Let them burn themselves out, fight amongst their ranks until there was nothing left but his own arrows in their damp flanks. 

Whatever truth made it passed their teeth meant little. The wolves had killed, the humans had killed, and he would hear no excuses. 

The werewolf collapsed by the side of a stream. Fahleon followed the swirls of pink up to its final resting place and knocked an arrow. It growled, it's only defense left, and Fahleon shrugged it off, face impassive. 

"You-"

"I don't want to hear it," Fahleon said, and let the arrow fly.


	20. "I Can't Feel My Leg"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Start with the sentence "I can't feel my leg."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featuring, once again, my Warden

"I can't feel my leg." Fahleon looked up with little haste, and even less concern. The Warden's bright smile faltered at the cool expression before cracking, and he crossed his arms instead with a pout. "You could at least look surprised."

The elf shook his head with a sigh. "The joke's getting old," he said, rising and crossing the room. He slapped the aforementioned leg and metal rang loud and clear under his hand. The Warden slipped off his boot and the prosthetic with it to stop the ringing deep within his bones and rubbed at the mess of scar tissues that was all but left of the limb. "Feel that?"

"A little. Sometimes I think I can still feel the whole thing. What about you?" Fahleon watched the Warden's eyes trace his left half and slip down the empty sleeve of his arm. "Can you feel it?"

Fahleon lifted his shoulder. Muscles yet to be fully healed pulled in a way that made his neck sore. "Sometimes."

He nodded, a frown forming on his face. "You'll get used to it, I'm sure." He fixed the replacement limb back on his knee and stretched it out, once, before yanking up his boot again to hide it. 

"Where did you get it?"

The Warden snorted. "Talkative today?" Fahleon crossed his arms and he waved it off with another laugh. "Wade, actually, in Denerim. We ran into some drakes along the way and Leliana - you knew her, didn't you? - thought to take their hides. I thought she just thought of their scales of pretty, but I guess they're worth a pretty silver or two if you find the right buyer. Wade heard us, somehow, over the market crowd and came running like the Archdemon was after him." He grinned at the memory and tapped at his leg himself. "I'm not strong enough for armor and I can't wield a blade. It was Zevran's idea, anyway..." He cleared his throat. "He does good work - Wade, I mean."

Fahleon nodded, and wondered who heavy a drake-scale arm would be.


	21. Stairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- There's an endless, winding, well of stairs -

"I have a report from Leliana," one of the spymaster's underlings said, handing over a folded document. Fahleon took it and stuffed it in a pocket without further thought - he couldn't read it anyway. They nodded, accepting. "You can speak to her, if you wish." They'd left, without saying where Leliana was or how to find her. In Skyhold, she could be anywhere, and he hadn't explored more than half of it. The great hall, the kitchens, and his own personal quarters were as far he'd venture since finding the castle. 

He followed the sound of birds. It made sense, to him at least, that Leliana would keep to messenger ravens and stay close to where they'd roost with their messages tied to them. He'd seen Ada fly up a large column once before to snap and squawk at them, and he found it easily enough. Solas was at the bottom, with his table piled high with books and something meant for magical use taking up the center. The rest was ringed in paintings, and behind those, a stairwell. Fahleon started up them.

That had felt like hours ago. The first landing was a library, and he'd been pleasantly surprised to find Dorian making use of it's over-sized chairs and over-sized windows, and stopped for a break to ask how he found it - in not so many words. In much more words. Dorian complained about the books, their contents, their organization, and the lighting. Fahleon didn't want to start up the next flight, but his talk had given him a headache. 

The stairs gave him a leg ache. He'd passed another flight leading to a handful of sleeping quarters, and moved further up with a groan of remorse. The cawing of ravens grew louder, and louder, and louder still, until it rung in his ears and he could hear nothing else above the din. 

The final landing loomed above, and Fahleon stretched towards it, nearly falling in his haste. Ada landed on his shoulder when he made it, hands on his knees and breathing hard, and he did fall at the sudden weight. 

"Inquisitor," Leliana greeted, and he glared at the humor in her tone. 

He wheezed. "I need to learn how to read."


	22. Potion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character is granted a potion of their choosing -

Fahleon eyed the assassin warily as he crossed the courtyard to the other...specialists. It made him uneasy to have them in Skyhold. They were crazy, these...professionals. The word stuck like bad honey in the back of his throat and made him gag. Crazy was what they truly were, insane, dangerous, and all Leliana's idea. To find someone, or someones, to teach him skills and further his chance of defeating Corypheus. He knew Leliana worked best in the shadows, by herself, and he respected her for it, but he wondered just far he should let that respect run. Just how far in the shadows had that woman searched?

The assassin tore through his skepticism like her words were a dagger through his paper-thin opinion. The artificer was crazy, babbling to himself as he poked and prodded at something in his hands, He sounded reasonable enough when Fahleon addressed him directly, but his methods were more than Fahleon liked. Traps and bombs were noisy things, and Varric was fond of them already. 

It left the tempest as his final resort, and Fahleon wasn't hopeful. 

"Here," the man said, after a minute of insistent babble that grated on Fahleon's nerves. The man held a bottle out in either hand, one orange and streaming with the bubbles, the other blue and dripping with condensation. Fahleon scowled at them both. "Here," he said again, and shoved them at him. Fahleon stepped back, away, before taking a hold of the blue one. It was cold to th touch. He wiped the water coating it on his pants before easing open the lid and sniffing. It smelled like frost and a cold wind. The tempest grinned. 

"Flask of frost," the tempest said, nodding vigorously. He said something else, if Fahleon cared to listen. He tuned out the idle chatter to test it for himself. A drop of his skin made his arm shiver will goosebumps, and coating his hand turned his fingernails blue while also turning the air around his fingers rigid and heavy. Fahleon pressed at his palm with the thumb of his opposite hand and it went numb. "It increases your defenses, Inquisitor." Not that the explanation was needed.

Fahleon nodded and shook his hand out as feeling returned. 

"You will try the way of the tempest, yes?"

"As crazy as it sounds," he answered.


	23. Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raya is a non-protag Inquisition oc made my friend and you can find her blog [here](https://halfling-raya.tumblr.com//).

Something smelled familiar in the way Skyhold was not. Fahleon was growing used to scent of roasting meat and root vegetables of Fereldan comforts and the occasional array of spices that accompanied Orlesians delicacies, and he caught them now as he found his way to the kitchens. As he neared, another scent permeated beneath it as if hesitant to show itself. Fahleon's ears perked forward as memory filled in the gaps and his steps quickened until he was taking the stairs two at a time to throw the doors open. His eyes flew to the masonry oven and he inhaled deep of the smell of squash, garlic, and hot peppers. 

Deep Forest-

"Why does it have to be bugs?" Fahleon spotted Raya leaning over one of the many tables taking up the majority of the kitchens, one hand moving with some reluctance in a bowl and the other holding a wrinkled and stained parchment flat to the surface. His suspicions were confirmed with her surprise and disgust, and he found himself shifting restlessly in the doorway, mouth watering. "Couldn't it have been fruit or something to mush in here?"

"Tomatoes work." Fahleon cleared his throat when she whirled, and he looked away when he felt his cheeks heating up. He wasn't some child, caught with his hands stuffed with sweets as his mother cooked dinner - but it felt like it, impatient and demanding. Surprise was quickly taken over by frustration and Raya waved her hand in frantic motions, some sort of goo flicking from her fingers, before wiping it on her apron, her face a shade of green. Fahleon mourned the loss, but the need for the dish outweighted his care for the original ingredients. Raya could have made it with fish and he still would have eaten it. "Halla cheese?"

"Goat, actually," she answered, and it was close enough for him. She crossed the room to the oven and pulled out a series of squash and Fahleon moved closer to inspect them. The edges were black and in the insides steamed too hot, falling apart when she took to them with a fork. He watched her work and swallowed, audiably enough for her to throw a look over his shoulder. "This was supposed to be a surprise, you know."

Fahleon pouted.


	24. Pile of leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Something is hidden under a pile of leaves -

Fahleon tracked Ada above him, keeping pace with her with a light job over the rocky hills of the Exalted Plains. She circled, once, and he whistled to her sharp and loud and frowned when she remained silent. He watched her dive, noting her position, and wandered to her landing in hurried strides. What they were hunting wouldn't be something for her to take down alone, and he forced his worry out of mind. She'd ignored his call and gone after a different sort of prey.

Not the bears they were supposed to be tracking - great bears, if there was any difference between the large brown ones Fahleon knew of lumbering about Fereldan and those lumbering about Orlais. The Dalish clan camped out by the river was in need of furs, and while he had yet to see one, he wouldn't turn down their need for help especially for something large, furry, and hard to miss.

He whistled again, lower, and received a series of chirps in response. A second one yielded the same results. There was no bear nearby - or kite, for that matter. A pile of fallen leaves rustled, and he paused before it wait for Ada to catch the mouse or vole or something, burrowing beneath or insects, that had dragged her off course in favor or something she could eat. Except, Ada never jumped on the movement. He scanned the trees and spotted only brightly colored, unnamed birds, and the occasional crow. 

He wouldn't give in and lure her back with treats she didn't deserve, even as his hand moved to the pouch of raw meat strapped to his belt. That movement caught Ada's eye, and the pile of leaves erupted in a burst of noise and feathers. Ada ruffled herself up and snapped at a disturbed leaf fluttering back to the pile. Fahleon blinked, momentarily puzzled, as she jumped, talons extended, to pounce on it. 

"Assa'len," he murmured, with some fondness and more than a little confusion. Ada abandoned the lackluster hunt and flapped to her perch on his shoulder, pulling out a leaf from beneath her wing and shaking herself as if it never happened. He opened his mouth and she squawked in his ear. He nodded and promised not to tell anyone. Satisfied, he supposed, she took to the air and a minimal slap to his face.


	25. Rain?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- It's not rain coming from the clouds -

"The Chantry owes me an apology - this looks nothing like the Maker's bosom," was the complaint that followed Fahleon back to consciousness. Hawke stood above him - or below him - vertigo and nausea left his head spinning, and between the exhaustion from the flight away from Adamant and it's dragon attack and the Anchor burning something terrible in his hand from opening a rift, he didn't have a sense of motivation to find out for sure. Hawke could be floating and he'd care less. 

"I don't think we're dead, fortunately. Or unfortunately." Fahleon flicked his gaze over and found a blurry mess of blues and silvers, and it cleared after a series of hard blinks to shape into the form of Warden Alistair. 

Varric was next to him, looking very much like he was unfortunate as he gripped his crossbow close and cursed under his breath. Fahleon rose himself, brushing rock and bits of gore from his pants, anything to keep his head down and the panic unseen on his face until he reigned it back in. They'd been inches from death with the dragon snapping at their heels as they tumbled from the broken bridge only to fall into...worse. He didn't want to name it, even as drips of wet sent icy chills his spine as it rained down on him. Or above him. There were clouds, if he could call the swirling green high above him clouds, and the freezing not-rain pouring from it rain.

"This is the Fade," Dorian did, for him. Fahleon shuddered. "The last time I was here, a desire demon and I shared a nice chat over good wine. Until it tried to possess me, of course."

"Of course," Bull groaned. "Fucking demons." Fahleon agreed with a nod.


	26. Expression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- What features does your character speak the move through -

Fahleon's nearly forgotten what a smile feels like. He can't remember the shape his mouth is supposed to make or which way his brow should move, how bright his eyes need to be. The struggle isn't worth the minuscule expression that will just be forgotten the moment it's over, and he let his face fall flat and rubbed at his jaw, cheeks aching just from that. Frowns are more suited to his thin lips and long face and scowls are more comfortable, but there's little difference between one angle of his mouth and another - he looked angry no matter how he made himself. 

The meaning still got through, sometimes, even if he never understood how. No one's been upset with him so far when he returns their bright greeting with a curt nod or meets their laugh with a slight shift of an eyebrow. Maybe his cheeks pink, but he can't see it to confirm.

He _can_ feel his ears, the traitors. It's likely where most of the communication comes from, and Fahleon traced the eye pattern of the next person he met. They shifted left, first, and right, second, and Fahleon wanted to cover the sides of his head. He did feel his face heat, then, and he turned away. All the while he felt his ears twitch in the direction of the parting conversation. Interesting. 

They perked forward when he was attentive or caught of guard and lowered, flat against his head when truly angry. An occasional twitch followed a sense of unease, or flicked violently in irritation. They settled somewhere in between pointed high and downcast when he found brief, rare moments to relax, and went very red when it was brought up.


	27. Disappear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Your character's form starts to flake away -

Fahleon learned to ignore the Anchor's flare around excessive magic use and places where the Veil was thin. It stung, not painfully so, just enough to draw his attention to it when the mark burst in response to the press of the Fade. It didn't worsen, either, but Fahleon swore he thought the jagged green wound inch just a bit further up his wrist.

He ignored that, too. 

He ignored it when he found the mark was spreading. He wrapped his hand, bound a length of cloth from his palm to his elbow as if the lack of alone would end its progression. It only made his fingers numb and his wrist itch, but he was successful in forgetting his concerns until the sting burned harsh and hot and deep in his muscle, like the day he earned himself the Anchor. Green leaked out from the confines of the wrappings, and Fahleon tore it off. A snarl broke free as a layer of skin ripped off with it, and he clenched his fingers tight, nails digging into his palm. Veins were brought close to the surface and the Fade flowed against them. 

Fahleon ran a finger down the length of the mark. It snaked in a winding line up his arm and cracked at his shoulder. The lines were thinner there than at his hand, and when he pressed against them his skin flaked. He winced. 

He tugged on a tunic with full sleeves and bound his arm in a fresh bandage. There was a new magic somewhere, close, too, for the Anchor to be responding with such aggression. The Breach would have taken his hand if it hadn't been stopped - he wouldn't sit around and wait to find out how much would be taken from him this time.


	28. Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Describe an encounter with a cat through its eyes -

The walls of Skyhold were tall enough to touch the sun and wide enough for four horses to ride abreast comfortably. It's seat, nestled within the points of high mountains, was always kissed by sunlight and was never in darkness but cast a long, dark shadow across the valley far below. It stone would be warmed to a perfect temperature whether it was by the staircase circling up to the top of the main tower to the arched walkways of the garden - yet the cats always napped in the wall behind the tavern. It was easy to watch the mice scurry from the pub's storage and spot their holes, the cat's tail twitching in impatience for the perfect time to pounce upon an unfortunate rodents. 

It was also a place the Inquisitor frequented, unfortunately for the cats. It hissed when the elf exited the pub by way of the attic door, a strange voice following after him in parting, to scare the mice back into their burrows. The cat flexed its claws into the stonework to work out the impatience, and settled further down the wall to soak up the sunlight while waiting for a second chance. The inquisitor followed. The cat curled its tail over its paws and its ears pressed back, and only then did the elf pause. He matched its unblinking stare evenly, and when the cat's ear twitched so did his. 

It didn't make the cat any less likely to run if he moved any closer, or strike out with the full force of its unsheathed claws if he dared to pet it. Tomorrow, the cat would choose a different wall, somewhere more secluded yet still in full light of the sun. Tomorrow, the cat would rest in the open windows of the kitchen and snap at insects flying towards the sweet scent of rotting fruits. Tomorrow, the cat would swipe at Fahleon when the elf jumped to the same window, and blood would run red down his ankle to dot the grass feet below.


	29. Pumpkin Flavored Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Write a romance scene involving pumpkin flavored tea -

The library was cold with its grooves in the walls. Once they served as arrow slits, but today they only let in the cold air blowing outside. The tower was open from top to bottom, and it the wind whistled from the open rookery all the way to the Solas' private chambers with nothing to block it or warm it up. The steaming mugs of tea felt wonderful in Fahleon's hands, but even better settled in the pit of his stomach to beat back the cold clawing at his insides. It smelled of crisp autumn forests, fresh baked bread, and a spiced gourd he couldn't name, but enjoyed the taste of nonetheless. Dorian might have appreciated it, too, if he could find him.

He wouldn't search the length of the library, not when there was a perfectly good chair by the window. It was warmed from the last person that occupied it, and he settled into it, folding his legs beneath him and curled around the cups in his arms. Dorian would return to his corner of the library when he was finished with his business and could reheat his drink with magic if he took too long.

He'd finished his and the chill was starting to return when Fahleon debated starting on the drink meant for Dorian. He paused, mid-sip, when footsteps whispered across the stone walkway and he held it out instead for the mage to bump into when he rounded the corner.

"What's this? Were you waiting for me?" Dorian asked, his grin confident and Fahleon settled himself deeper in the chair. He would have made room for the man to sit if he hasn't teased. Dorian either didn't mind or did but wouldn't show it - he took the mug and Fahleon felt the mark pulse at the draw of magic as Dorian warmed the drink between his hands. "It tastes like pumpkin, very festive."

Fahleon shrugged and leaned into the heat of Dorian's side when the mage perched on the armrest of the chair. "Raya made it."

Dorian hummed something under his breath around another sip. "You do spend a lot of time with her, and now she's making you drinks? I know your love of attention is wide and far-reaching, but do I have some competition to contend with?" he added, lifting a brow that sent Fahleon into a fit of coughing.

"Make a better pie and we'll talk."

"We'll talk, will we? With words?" 

Fahleon slapped at his thigh. Dorian shifted to keep his drink out of the way, splashing it on Fahleon's hand in the process. The mage took it before Fahleon could wipe it off on his pants, cleaning it instead with a kiss and a pass of his tongue. Fahleon flushed and cleared his throat. Dorian grinned. "My, it is warm in here, isn't it?"


	30. Landscape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- The landscape has suddenly changed -

The tunnels under Haven were possibly the only thins left of the town. Fahleon crawled from their wreckage and had to shield his eyes from the glare of dragon fire against snow, but the brightness never faded. He blinked against it, reluctant at first, and in awe later. The landscape was nothing but snow. Haven had been turned into nothing more than a flat, white expanse. Destruction occasionally broke the flatness - an overturned cats, its wheels on fire, or stonework thrown from a a watchtower to pile outside the avalanche's spread. The Chantry was reduced to a shadow beneath the snow, and the wall guarding Haven's outer limits was somewhere, feet or miles, below where he stood.

This was that creature's power, it's reach, and not even its full potential. Corypheus had leveled an entire town with just a dragon - Archdemon, if it was possible, but Fahleon hadn't felt the Blight crawling under his skin when the beast flew over, just the wicked and cursed Taint leeching a coldness into his bones where Corypheus touched him - and a toss of his arms. The avalanche hadn't stopped him, if it had even slowed him down at all.

Fahleon lost his balance when his feet sunk into the snow up to his knees. A chill ran up his spine as it filled his boots and wet his pants. Had the army amassing at Haven make it through the path the Chantry bother spoke of? He didn't care for the man, or any of those who'd deemed his guilty at first, but facing the snow and the coming night alone and injured was not a thought he enjoyed. He didn't even have Ada with him, someone to watch from the skies for any danger or hint of direction. 

Standing around wouldn't be any safer, however. Fahleon dragged his feet through the snow for the first step up the mountain.


	31. Candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- The villain gets the candy -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over! Writing these little prompts was a very fun exercise to do, and was - hopefully - a good warm-up for my Nano writing that starts tomorrow. I most likely won't be posting the fanfic I plan on doing until after November, but it'll be a re-telling of Inquisition with Fahleon.

Corypheus was looking for an eluvian in the Arbor Wilds - one that was no longer there. Calpernia was gone as well, limp and bloodied at the bottom of the ravine she'd jumped down before Fahleon's last arrow could pierce her heart. Her own ending, she called it, but Fahleon heard humiliation and fear in her voice when she spat out the words. Corypheus had lost his final into the Fade without the elven mirror, his general and informant with her fall to her death - and a broken body was useless to holding the Well of Sorrow's memories, as full of holes as it was - his dragon now that he has its blessings. The demon had lost everything but the war, and even that was quickly coming to a close - and not in his favor. As was the trend, and Fahleon couldn't help a small smirk that the thought.

He almost felt sorry for Corypheus. For all his speeches, his shows of power, his confidence, he was nothing more than just another shem. A shem with grander ideals, of course, but the larger they thought themselves, the more fun it was to topple them. 

"Are you...sure you want to do this?" Josephine asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. Fahleon felt a lazy smile on his face and he wiped it off with a rub of his hand across his mouth. She showed him the order, his words written in her handwriting and waiting for a signature. He plucked the quill from her grasp and scratched out a series of lines Dorian had explained was his name, but the loops meant nothing to him. Not until now, that was. She gave it another one-over, her eyebrows knitting together before rolling it up and sealing with the mark of the Inquisition. "I will....be giving this to Leliana, then. My apologies, I don't know who else could get this done."

"Leliana is fine," he agreed. Few others would be able to sneak sympathy chocolates to Thedas' greatest threat before the final attack.


End file.
